The origin of New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve

What is "year"? It is a fictional animal, which will bring bad luck to people. When the year is over, the withered grass will not grow; A year later, everything grew and flowers were everywhere. How to spend the year? Firecrackers are needed, so there is a custom of setting off firecrackers. 1993, the Beijing Municipal People's Government promulgated a law prohibiting the setting off of fireworks and firecrackers, making this centuries-old custom a thing of the past.

In ancient China, the word "Nian" was placed in the Grain Department, indicating that the weather was favorable and the crops were plentiful. Because cereal crops are usually harvested once a year. "Year" is extended to the name of the year.

So how did the year come from? There are several folk sayings:

Legend of "nian" beast

According to legend, there was a monster named Nian in ancient China, with long tentacles and a ferocious face. Nian lived on the seabed for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and killing people. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast. On New Year's Eve this year, people in Taohua Village were taking refuge in the mountains when an old beggar came from outside the village. He was leaning on crutches, carrying a bag on his arm, with elegant silver whiskers and staring at Matthew. Some villagers sealed windows and locked doors, some packed their bags, some herded cattle and drove sheep, and people shouted boo everywhere, which was a scene of panic. At this time, who still has the mind to take care of this begging old man? Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain quickly to avoid Nian beast. The old man smiled and said, "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive Nian beast away." The old woman looked at him carefully in surprise and found that he was handsome, energetic and different. But she continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. My mother-in-law had no choice but to leave home and take refuge in the mountains. At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had red paper on the door and bright candles in the room. The beast Nian trembled and let out a long whistle. Nian stared at her mother-in-law's house for a while, then screamed and rushed over. When we were near the door, there was a sudden explosion in the yard, and Nian trembled and dared not go any further. It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion. The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly. The villagers flocked to the old woman's house together, only to see red paper on her mother-in-law's door, a pile of unburned bamboo still exploding in the yard, and a few red candles still glowing in the house ... In order to celebrate the auspicious arrival, the ecstatic villagers put on new clothes and hats one after another and went to relatives and friends' houses to congratulate and say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast. Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.

The legend of enduring a year

In our country, people have the habit of keeping watch on New Year's Eve. Watching the new year begins with eating New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting with lighting lanterns, and some families have to eat it until late at night. According to the Chronicle of Jingchu in the Song Dynasty, at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a custom of New Year's Eve.

The custom of observing the old age not only includes the feeling of farewell and nostalgia for the fleeting time, but also expresses the good hope for the coming New Year. The ancients wrote in the poem "Shousui": "Invite Shousui Arong's family to spread red to blue gauze with candles; Thirty-six years have passed, and I cherish the years since this night. " It is human nature to cherish the years, so the great poet Su Shi wrote a famous sentence: "There will be no years next year, and I am worried about waste; Try to do it tonight, and the teenager can still boast! "This shows the positive significance of New Year's Eve.

Keep your age at 30, commonly known as "endure the year." Why is it called "Endure the Year"? There is an interesting story circulating among generations of people: in Archean, there was a fierce monster scattered in the deep mountains and forests, and people called them "Nian". Nian has a ferocious appearance and a ferocious nature. It specializes in eating birds, animals and scale insects, and changes its taste every day, from kowtowing insects to living people, which makes people talk about "Nian". Slowly, people mastered the activity law of "Year". It turns out that every 365 days in 2008, I went to places where people lived to taste fresh food, and the time of haunt was after dark. When the rooster crowed at dawn, they returned to the mountains. After calculating the ravaged date of 2008, men and women regarded this terrible night as "New Year's Eve" and came up with a set of methods for "New Year's Eve": every family cooked dinner in advance, turned off the stove, tied up all the barns, sealed their doors and hid in the house to eat "New Year's Eve"-because this dinner was fierce. After dinner, no one dared to sleep, so they sat together and got up the courage to chat. It's getting dark, and I escaped from the deep forest in and touched the village where people live together. I saw every household's door closed, sesame stalks piled in front of it, but there was no one in the street. After turning for more than half a night, I found nothing, so I had to chew sesame stalks to satisfy my hunger. After a while, the rooster crowed, and these cruel and stupid monsters had to go home disgruntled. Those who have survived the "Year Pass" are delighted. They want to thank the ancestors of heaven and earth for their protection, congratulate each other on not being eaten by Nian, and open the door to set off firecrackers to greet their neighbors and relatives to congratulate them ... When people meet, they bow and congratulate each other and are glad that they have not been eaten by Nian beast. After many years, nothing happened, and people relaxed their vigilance against Nian beast. On the evening of 30th one year, Nian beast suddenly fled to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. A village was almost eaten up by Nian beast, and only a pair of newly-married couples in red curtains were safe and sound. There are also a few childlike innocence, in the yard lit a pile of bamboo to play, red. Bamboo exploded after burning, and Nian beast turned around and fled when it saw the fire. From then on, people know that Nian beast is afraid of red, light and noise. At the end of each year, every household sticks red paper, wears red robes, hangs red lights, beats gongs and drums, and sets off firecrackers, so that Nian Beasts dare not come again. In The Book of Songs Xiaoya Tingliao, there is a record of "the light of Tingliao". The so-called "pavilion" is a torch made of bamboo poles and the like. After the bamboo pole burns, the air in the bamboo joint expands, and the bamboo cavity bursts, making a crackling sound, which is the origin of "firecrackers". However, villagers in some places don't know that Nian beast is afraid of red and is often eaten by Nian beast. This incident later spread to the sky in Wei Zi. In order to save people, he is determined to destroy Nian beast. One year the beast came out, knocked it down with a fireball and chained it to a stone pillar with a thick chain. From then on, every New Year, people always burn incense and ask Zixing to come down to keep safe. This phenomenon has gradually become the custom of "Happy New Year" and "Happy New Year", which is rich in content. The usual order is: "First, worship the heavens and the earth, then worship the ancestors, then go to Gaotang, then go out to visit relatives and friends, and there are also various kinds of rituals such as ancestor worship on the first day, ancestor worship on the second day, ancestor worship on the third day, and so on, until the fifteenth day of the first month.

Another way of saying it is:

In ancient China calligraphy, the word "Nian" was placed in the Grain Department, indicating that the weather was favorable and the crops were plentiful. Because cereal crops are usually harvested once a year. "Year" is extended to the name of the year.

Although there was a custom of Spring Festival in ancient China, it was not called Spring Festival at that time. Because the Spring Festival referred to at that time refers to the "beginning of spring" among the 24 solar terms.

The origin of new year's eve

Elimination in pre-Qin period. According to Lu Chunqiu Ji, the ancients used drums to drive away the "plague god" on the day before the New Year, which is the origin of the "New Year's Eve" festival. It is said that the name "New Year's Eve" was first mentioned in historical books such as "Local Customs" written in the Western Jin Dynasty and early Zhou Dynasty.

[Edit this paragraph] New Year's Eve custom

New Year's Eve, or "New Year's Eve". The last day of the year. This day is a day for people to eat, drink and be merry. Northerners make jiaozi and southerners make rice cakes. The shape of jiaozi is like an "ingot" and the sound of rice cakes is like "rice cakes", which are good signs of good luck.

Wang Anshi's poem "January Day" said: "In the sound of firecrackers, the spring breeze sends warmth into Tu Su. Thousands of families always change new peaches for old ones every day. " "Dream of Liang Lu" Volume 6: "At the end of December, it is said that' the month is poor and the year is over', which is called' except night'. Scholars, large and small, sweep the gates, clean up the tenants, change the door gods, hang bells, nail peach charms, paste spring cards and offer sacrifices to tenants. At night, prepare fragrant flowers to greet the gods and pray for peace in the new year. " "Wanli Jiaxing Prefecture Records": "In the twelfth lunar month, villagers painted their faces with Zhu Mo, danced in the city and performed ancient Nuo ceremonies. On New Year's Eve, Yimen God, Fu Tao, Chuntie and Jing (Shiwei) are all sealed, firecrackers are set to burn purple, wine and fruit are gathered together, and gongs and drums are played all night, which is called observing the Year. " New Year's Eve began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. (Liang) Xu Shi's poem "* * * wife sits at night to see the age": "If you are not affectionate, don't drink more. Peaches in wine, bayberry in zongzi. Open the curtain and enter the account, and the candle will burn ash. Don't doubt the weight of your temple, Guang Xiao will urge you. " On New Year's Eve, there are still customs of "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new" and giving "lucky money". "Yanjing Years Old": "Those who wear embroidered robes to exhaust their relatives and friends on New Year's Eve are called words. It is also called resignation for family members to destroy their elders. The newlyweds must go to the Yue family to resign, otherwise it will be disrespectful. " "Put the colored rope on, make it into a dragon, and put it at the foot of the bed, which is called lucky money. The elders give their children lucky money. "

On New Year's Eve, the whole family eats a "reunion dinner" together, which smells like a family reunion in the New Year. When having a reunion dinner, the "fish" on the table should not be moved, because this fish represents "wealth" and "more than every year" and symbolizes "wealth and good luck" in the coming year. It belongs to a decoration and can't be touched. A few places have different customs, such as Guizhou. The fish on the table is not inedible, but there is some left, which means "more than one year")

The climax of New Year's Eve is that the elders give "lucky money" after the New Year's Eve. Next, post Spring Festival couplets and door gods and close the door. I didn't open the door to "pick up the god of wealth" until the morning of the first day. Then the whole family stayed up until the early hours of the morning.

The lights on New Year's Eve never go out all night, commonly known as "light years".

[Edit this paragraph] Legend of New Year's Eve

One of the legends of the Spring Festival: staying up late for the New Year.

Keeping the old year is the custom of staying up late to welcome the new year on the last night of the old year. Also known as New Year's Eve, the common name is "Enduring the Year". Exploring the origin of this custom, there is an interesting story among the people:

In ancient times, there was a fierce monster scattered in the mountains. People call them nian. Its appearance is ferocious, its nature is ferocious, and it specializes in eating birds, animals and insects. It changes its taste every day, from kowtowing insects to living people, which makes people talk about "Nian". Later, people gradually mastered the activity law of "Nian", that is, every 365 days, people go to places where people live in concentrated communities to taste fresh food. The haunting time is after dark, and when the rooster crows at dawn, they return to the mountains.

After determining the date of the ravages of 2008, people regarded this terrible night as a gateway, and came up with a set of methods to close the New Year's Day: every family prepared dinner in advance, turned off the fire, cleaned the stove, then tied all the cowpeas, sealed the front and back doors of the house, and hid in the house to eat the "New Year's Eve" because this dinner was uncertain. In addition to inviting the whole family to have dinner together to show harmonious reunion, we should also worship our ancestors before eating and pray for their blessing to spend the night safely. After dinner, no one dared to sleep, so they sat together and chatted with courage. Gradually formed the habit of not sleeping on New Year's Eve.

The trend of observing the age rose in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and many scholars in the Liang Dynasty had poems about observing the age. "One night for two years, five hours for two years." People light candles or oil lamps and keep vigil all night, which symbolizes driving away all evil diseases and looking forward to good luck in the new year. This custom has been handed down from generation to generation.

Legend of the Spring Festival 2: On Calendar Making in Ten Thousand Years

According to legend, there was a young man named Wan Nian in ancient times. Seeing that the festivals at that time were chaotic, he had an accurate plan. But he couldn't find a way to calculate the time. One day, he was tired of chopping wood on the mountain and sat in the shade. The movement of the shadow inspired him. He designed a sundial to measure the time of the day. Later, inspired by the dripping spring water on the cliff, he began to make a five-layer clepsydra to calculate the time. Over time, he found that every 360 days, the four seasons would cycle once, and the length of the weather would be repeated.

At that time, the monarch was called Zu Ti, who was often troubled by the unpredictable weather. Ten thousand years later, he took the sundial and the clepsydra to see the emperor and explained to Zu Ti the truth about the movement of the sun and the moon. Zu Ti was very happy after hearing this and felt reasonable. So I left for ten thousand years and built the Sun and Moon Pavilion in front of the Temple of Heaven, as well as the sundial platform and the Leaky Pot Pavilion. I hope I can accurately measure the laws of the sun and the moon, calculate the exact time in the morning and evening, and create a calendar to benefit people all over the world.

On one occasion, Zu Ti went to learn about the progress of the perpetual calendar. When he boarded the altar of the sun and the moon, he saw a poem engraved on the stone wall next to the Temple of Heaven:

Sunrise and sunset 360, start again.

Vegetation is divided into four seasons, and there are twelve circles in a year.

Knowing that the perpetual calendar was created, I personally boarded the Sun Moon Pavilion to visit the perpetual calendar. Wan Nian pointed to the astronomical phenomena and said to Zu Ti, "It's been twelve months now, the old year has passed and the new year has begun again. Please make a festival for you. " Zu Ti said, "Spring is the first year of a year, so let's call it Spring Festival". It is said that this is the origin of the Spring Festival.

After years of long-term observation and careful calculation, he worked out an accurate solar calendar. When he showed his successor the solar calendar, he was covered with silver whiskers. The monarch was deeply moved. In order to commemorate the achievements of 10 thousand years, he named the solar calendar "perpetual calendar" and named it the birthday star of the sun, moon and moon. In the future, people will hang up the Shou Xingtu during the Chinese New Year, which is said to commemorate the venerable ten thousand years.

The Third Legend of Spring Festival: Sticking Spring Festival couplets and Door Gods

It is said that the custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets began in the post-Shu period about 1000 years ago, which is proved by history. In addition, according to the Jade Candle Collection and the Chronicle of Yanjing, the original form of Spring Festival couplets is what people call "Fu Tao".

In the ancient mythology of China, it is said that there is a ghost world, in which there is a mountain, a big peach tree covering three thousand miles, and a golden rooster at the top of the tree. Whenever the golden rooster crows in the morning, the ghost who travels at night will rush back to the ghost domain. The Gate of Ghost Domain is located in the northeast of Peach Tree District. There are two gods standing by the door, named Shen Tu and Lei Yu. If the ghost does something unnatural at night, Shen Tu and Lei Yu will immediately find it, catch it, tie it up with a rope made of Miscanthus and give it to the tiger. So all the ghosts in the world are afraid of Shen Tu and Lei Yu. So people carved them into peach trees and put them at their doorsteps to ward off evil spirits and prevent harm. Later, people simply carved the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu on the mahogany board, thinking that this could also eliminate disasters. This kind of red board was later called "Fu Tao".

In the Song Dynasty, people began to write couplets on mahogany boards, one for killing evil spirits, the other for expressing good wishes, and the third for decorating the portal for beauty. They also write couplets on red paper symbolizing happiness and good luck, and stick them on both sides of doors and windows during the Spring Festival to express people's good wishes for good luck in the coming year.

In order to pray for the longevity of the family, people in some places still keep the habit of sticking up doors. It is said that there are two door gods posted on the gate, and all monsters will be afraid. In the folk, the door god is a symbol of justice and strength. The ancients thought that people with strange looks often had magical temperament and extraordinary skills. They are honest and kind, and it is their nature and responsibility to catch ghosts and demons. Zhong Kui, a ghost hunter who is highly regarded by people, is such a strange look. Therefore, the folk door gods are always glaring and ferocious, holding all kinds of traditional weapons in their hands, ready to fight against ghosts who dare to come to the door. Because the doors of China's house are usually two opposite doors, the door gods are always paired.

After the Tang Dynasty, besides peace, people also regarded Qin and Weichi Gong, two military commanders in the Tang Dynasty, as gatekeepers. According to legend, Emperor Taizong was ill, heard ghosts screaming outside, and stayed up all night. So he asked the two generals to stand by with weapons, and there was no ghost harassment the next night. Later, Emperor Taizong had the images of these two generals painted and pasted on the door, and this custom began to spread widely among the people.

Legend of the Spring Festival 4: air billow shoots "party"

A long time ago, there was a monster named Xi. This guy is very harmful, especially when he sees beautiful girls, he will act like a spoiled brat at night. Then I have to eat that girl. People hate it, but there is nothing they can do.

There was a hunter named Qi Lang. He was very strong, and he was very good at archery, but he was very bad at feeding dogs. Any wild animal dares to fight. Air billow saw that the people were suffering from "Xi" and wanted to get rid of him. He took the dog everywhere for "Xi", but he couldn't find it. It turned out that "Xi" didn't come out during the day, but came out after sunset to harm people, and disappeared after midnight. No one knew where it lived.

I spent a year looking for "Xi". It was the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month. When he came to a town, he saw people happily preparing for the New Year. He thought, this town is big, there are many people, and there are many girls. Maybe "Xi" will come. He went to consult the people in the town, saying that "Xi" was most afraid of noise and told everyone not to sleep when it was dark. Find something that knocks loudly at home, and knock hard as soon as there is movement to scare away the "night".

That night, "Xi" really came, and he was found as soon as he broke into a house. The family immediately knocked on pots and pans, and when the family knocked, the whole town followed suit. "Xi" was scared to run around and was seen by air billow. Air billow released hounds to bite him, while "Xi" struggled with air billow and dogs. As soon as people heard that there was a fight outside, they all picked up their things and knocked at the door loudly. At this time, "Xi" is a bit overwhelming. If you want to run away, you don't know that you will be bitten by hounds. Air billow took the opportunity to shoot with a bow and killed "Xi" with an arrow.

Since then, people have called the 30th of the twelfth lunar month "New Year's Eve". On this night, every household should keep watch and shoot guns to drive away the ominous and welcome happiness and auspiciousness.